Maple Story: Legend of the NonKSing Mage!
by ecnal nogardnap
Summary: KurtPaladin believes there's a mage who REFUSES to KS, and he's gonna be the one to find that mage!


**Maple Story: Legend of The Non-KSing Mages!**

**A Short Story By Ecnal Nogardnap**

Summary: KurtPaladin, a young page, believes that somewhere, out there, there are mages who log on and think 'Hey, KSing is wrong!'! And HE'S gonna find them!

Disclaimer: I don't own Maple Story, Wizet and AsiaSoft do. Any relation to characters in MS, living or deleted, is purely coincidental. Generic mages are ugly stereotypes of KSers. KS is Kill Steal, in case you don't know. It is a dishonourable act when done intentionally out of a party to people who aren't friends and only the spawn of Satan would do such a thing according to the aforementioned criteria, lol.

(A.N.: And yes, there probably are a lot of mages that don't KS who are probably the majority. This, however, is an indulgence in hyperbole over the deplorable act of KSing for all the little people who levelled slowly as a result…XD)

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

"Magic Claw!"

Within moments, the once lush and full forest east of Henesys was empty and barren, the pigs obliterated by 2 incessant mages.

They came like a thunderbolt, swiftly and without mercy. The warriors and bowmen gathered there were innocently racking up some fighting experience, when suddenly, lightning hit the pigs!

The lower levelled people attempted to get in what experience they could, but to no avail. Before long, every pig, every ribbon pig, every source of experience and loot was levelled.

Shortly after that, the mages picked up the loot and held a discussion, all while the rest looked on in shock and disgust.

"LOL! WTF, dat was fun!" exclaimed one.

"Ya, gd loot!" laughed the other.

"Wat we do now?" he asked his partner.

"LOL! WE KS NOOBIES! ROFLLOLOLOOMGWTFLOL!"

"ROFLOLOLOLLMFAOLMAOLOLWTFOMFG!"

The 2 went on their way as well. Left alone in the barren fields of Henesys, a warrior and his allies discuss this incident.

"I HATE those horrible little monsters!" exclaimed a spearman.

"I was SO close to getting to level 30!" shouted a younger warrior.

"I swear, give me just one minute of PvP and I'll…" seethed a fighter.

"NO. Do that and they'll only kill us more, thereby raising their experience while decreasing ours," a wise bowman stated.

A couple of rogues just spawned through the portal only to see the desolation.

"Rogue mages?" they asked.

"Yep," all the others replied.

"I knew it! Gyu, let's go back to Kerning City! At least there the terrain prevents TOO much KSing!"

"Right!"

With that, the 2 bandits each used a return scroll, sending them to Kerning City.

The small circle of non-magic users still faced that same grievous problem.

However, one Kurt Paladin, the page of the group (and the longer-lasting tanker out of the whole lot), suddenly came up with a radical idea.

"This can't be right…They're ALL like that, like a plague…But by all conceivable odds, at least ONE of them has to think otherwise!"

A crossbow woman shakes her head.

"I'm afraid that after all my time spent travelling Victoria Island, I can assure you that all the mages I've found are just that driven."

"Hmmph…Well, I believe. I believe that there has to be at least ONE mage that thinks that KSing is wrong! And one day, I'm going to find that mage!" the enthusiastic page declares.

A brief silence follows. Then, uncontrolled laughter is heard.

"Kurt, you are one CRAAAZY guy!" exclaims the fighter. The 2 bowmen in the group are literally rolling on the floor with laughter and even other more restrained individuals are chuckling.

The holy fighter frowns.

"We'll see! One of these days, I'm gonna find a good mage! And when I do, levelling will go SO much quicker! Wait and see guys! Wait and see!"

With that, the ambitious young man jumps off into the nearest portal.

At that moment, the pigs respawned.

"INCOMING!"

_**-One of these days, very, very much later…-**_

A ragged, only slightly stronger Kurt Paladin jumps over a monster and gets to the portal to a dungeon. Over the days, he had tried looking for a mage wise enough to not KS, but to no avail.

"Oh, who am I kidding? I'm NEVER going to find a good mage! All I can do is maximise the amount of experience I get before mages KS…" he thought.

As if on cue, a bunch of generic mages, 'lol'ing and such, bound by and entered the portal. He sighs.

**_-Inside…- _**

The dungeon was damp and had forests. Surprising considering it was completely underground.

There were slimes here, green mushrooms there, and even spiny mushrooms. Kurt smiled when suddenly he heard the deplorable words…

"MAGIC CLAW!"

"MAGIC CLAW!"

"MAGIC CLAW!"

He sighs and explores further down, trying to find some monsters to kill.

He lands on a platform when the space is free, jumping over the blue-capped mushroom that lunges at him.

He takes a swipe…But it doesn't connect. A lightning bolt kills the monster on the spot and the mage on a nearby ledge uses the smiling F2 emoticon.

Kurt feels the undeniable urge to break his neck or throw him into a pit of magic resistant armoured pigs. He tries slashing at the malicious mage, but to no avail. The game just wasn't made that way.

**_-Later…-_**

In the long run, he DID get some experience…It's just that it was barely even 2 of the whole schmoly. Mr. Paladin sighs and walks into the small town known as Sleepywood.

Of course, having had his fair share of lumps from the monsters, he went to a sauna. He paid a few mesos and entered the sauna. The hot steam surprisingly aided his body's regeneration. Then, he left.

Outside, he looked for things that might aid him. Stores, weapon shops, anything, but to no avail. Then suddenly, he spotted sign.

"Ant Tunnel? Hey wait, Manji said something about getting undead charms from there…I should check it out!"

(A.N.: An obvious reference to Maya and the Weird Medicine)

Unbeknownst to the page, however, fate would soon deal him a winning hand.

_**-Ant Tunnel…-**_

The Ant Tunnel was a subterranean cave that went on for goodness knows how long. It was crawling with spiny mushrooms and undead corpses of the orange capped mushrooms.

And of course, there were people. It seemed a very popular place to train. The spiny mushrooms were easier to hit, though the undead mushrooms were popular targets as well.

Of course, that was where all similarities ended. There were people of all professions, alright, but there were also rogue mages. Magic claws were seen all over. Despite quick spawn times, the creatures were killed indefinitely.

Kurt sighed. Might as well try to level since he's so close to it…

So off he went. A slash here, a slash there, but as always, at any populated area, a pesky magic spell would interrupt, and the hypocritical F2 emoticon was shone in his face again.

He went down further. This time, there was a nice recovery spot beneath a ledge. He jumped down, evaded an undead mushroom and climbed down via a ladder. Then, he noticed someone there. A high levelled wizard in a red chaos robe and a jester hat, regenerating mana.

He checked the stats, and noticed something very odd…He was neither defamed by rash youths, nor overfamed by fellow mages! Of course, this could just be coincidence. However, Kurt had little time to think on this. He quickly jumped down and started slashing at the nearest mushroom.

A slash here, a jump there, occasionally getting hit…Then the wizard jumped down. He cast a magic claw to the back of the Page, then to the right, killing the mushroom. However, another thing he noticed…

"Hey! I got most of the experience!"

Oops. Did he just say that out loud?

The wizard let out a small 'lol' and proceeded to say ANOTHER thing Kurt Paladin noticed almost immediately…

"Sorry. Magic claw went astray…You almost killed it anyways."

Kurt's jaw dropped. When he hinged it up again, he talked.

"Did you…just apologise for…killing my monster?"

He quickly turned, jumped over an undead mushroom and hacked at it again. The wizard nods while magic clawing the monsters on his side. He waits patiently for Kurt to finish off the mushroom before casting magic claw on others behind him.

That pretty much tears it.

"Hold on, change channel…I need to ask you some things…"

"Suit yourself…"

FLASH! The 2 drop by a resting point.

"So…Just who ARE you? I mean…No offence or anything, but…You don't KS? You're a WIZARD and you don't KS?" the young page asks in bewilderment. The mage nods.

"Why yes. It's something I take great pride in. Besides, KSing is always a dishonourable act…It's pretty much rude unless you're in a party or with a friend."

"Wow…Really?" the bobbleheaded warrior asked.

"Really," the wizard responded.

"Reeeaaally?" he asked again.

"Really," he replied patiently.

"Really, really, really?" he asked again, unable to believe his good luck.

"No."

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

"lol, jk(just kidding)."

"Oh…I knew that!"

"Riiiiight. And who are YOU? I've never seen warriors jump around like Jedi like that."

"Me? Just another page…That jumps! Like a frog!"

"lol."

An awkward silence follows. Then the following text follows…

KurtPaladin has just raised AleizOrfnyll's fame level.

"What?" the wizard exclaimed.

"I've spent many days looking for a mage like you! Someone who won't KS without good reason! Aleiz Orfnyll, it is an honour to meet one such as you!"

Aleiz raises an eyebrow.

"Have Ellinia's mages gotten that much worse already?"

"Well…Yeah."

"My gosh…So the situation has gotten worse…It appears we've been training here a bit too long…"

"Wait…you said 'we' plural?"

"Yes. For generations, me and some players around my level have trained in the ant tunnels, honing our skills and getting good experience.

"While we maintained a strict code of honour regarding kills, however, it was many months before we would resurface for the sole purpose of advancing our jobs.

"So right now…ALL mages on Victoria Island's surface are like that? Killing before anybody can deal even half of a monster's life in damage? Dominating areas and wiping out monsters before anybody else can?"

"At least 90, I can imagine."

"Why, that's preposterous! This game is supposed to be fun for everyone, not just mages! I can't let this go unnoticed…"

A few seconds pass. A buddy request is extended and accepted.

"Huh?" Kurt asks.

"You do what you will, I'll contact my allies. Then we'll be able to form a force big enough to fairly dominate some areas of a map without meddling."

"Whoa…You'd do this for warriors and others?"

"Not just warriors, players. And I'm not LIKE other mages," the powerful wizard says with a grin.

_**-Some more days later…-**_

In Kerning city's subway, blue bubblings bounded all over. Adventurers were seen everywhere, groups dominating some sections of the area. However, there was one point which differed vastly.

In the upper left section of the first area, a group of warriors and mages were combining their strengths. However, something was different.

Spearmen, Fighters and Pages were whacking freely and actually killing by themselves. Mages were fighting off monsters at other areas and tightly packed spaces were shared.

Only when a call for help was heard did the elementalists go to the rescue. Sword and spell worked hand-in-hand, wreaking destruction on the blue versions of slimes. It was actually…fun!

At one point, a higher levelled KurtPaladin (now a White Knight already in updated armour) jumped over a bubbling and cleaved it in two with a power slash.

He jumped over 2 more that rushed at the same speed and they were picked off by a certain Aleiz Orfnyll.

"Damn, I never get sick of that…" the unorthodox lightning/ice wizard chuckled. His friend did an honest F2 emoticon.

"You and me both, buddy!"

Oh yes. Life was sweet.


End file.
